Increase in gratuity

[mdsgu]

25 minutes ago, allyfrizzle said:

I was pricing out a Sky cruise and noticed the $19.99. So even though it's open bar/no free at sea gratuity... they're still getting you!

 

The house always wins.

[newmexicoNita]

11 minutes ago, cdnsteelman said:

In this age of big data they can predict with great accuracy what percentage of passengers will reduce or remove the DSC. While I don't often use the term nickel-and-dime, this is exactly that. As @newmexicoNita suggests, the $3.50 per person on a 7 day cruise will be hardly noticed and is in line with what other lines are charging. As such, NCL seems to be adding half-a-buck a day annually and giving it a year to soak.

 

Here's some quick math... the double-occupancy boiler plate guest capacity of NCL's 17 ships is 50,494. For the sake of simplicity let's assume the average annual occupancy at 90% (I have no idea if that's right but it seems reasonable). Without getting into differentials for suites etc. a 50-cent per day per pax increase creates a "nickel-and-dime" revenue stream of slightly under $8.3 million dollars for the year.

 

I don't wish to get into whether that money is actual bookable revenue as a DSC or not but it is fair to say it costs NCL NOTHING to garner another ~$8.3 million annually.

 

 

certainly not disagreeing with you and as I said it is the principle of the thing that i hate, but still the little increase will go unnoticed to many.

also, having some knowledge as to how these companies work, I can guarantee you other lines will follow. Remember when it wasn't so long ago, the normal tip in a restaurant was about 15%? That was that long ago, suddenly everyone started tipping 18% cause some did and now, so many of us tip 20%. It only takes one or two to get the ball rolling. It works the well, other way as well. Run a great price on something by one company and the next thing you know other companies follow suit. We see this in the cruise industry all the time. In fact we see this thorough the travel and hospitality industry. 

[mdsgu]

16 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

 

the form asks for a reason why you are removing it.

you just leave it blank?

 

The one time I cut my gratuities in half for bad service I did leave it blank.

[Georgie562]

I called it !!

Late last year I said they would raise them again this year!!

Up next... 25% dining and beverage service charges. Just wait for it 😉

Edited March 14, 2019 by Georgie562

[spanishguy1970]

2 minutes ago, Georgie562 said:

I called it !!

Late last year I said they would raise them again this year!!

Up next... 25% dining and beverage service charges. Just wait for it 😉

at this point,i don't think you have to make predictions, is pretty much a given they will keep raising prices LOL🤣

[Trimone]

You know after booking two flights yesterday, and pricing good hotels, I can’t see the value in cruises. 

[Georgie562]

1 hour ago, spanishguy1970 said:

this is getting ridiculous, when is it enough?  they do this almost every year. Soon, taking cruises wont be the best bang for your buck...

 

Taking Norwegian cruises is already not the best bang for your buck.

Just scored a 14 day Caribbean cruise on MSC Seaside for $1,033 per person. Did not find nothing close to that price range with NCL.

 

[allyfrizzle]

14 minutes ago, Georgie562 said:

 

Taking Norwegian cruises is already not the best bang for your buck.

Just scored a 14 day Caribbean cruise on MSC Seaside for $1,033 per person. Did not find nothing close to that price range with NCL.

 

Whoa.... go on. Tell me more!

[hallux]

13 minutes ago, Trimone said:

I can’t see the value in cruises. 

 

I guess that depends on your level of expectation.  I like the variety of destinations offered by a single voyage (even with only 3 ports-of-call as that's still 3 more than you'd get at an all-inclusive resort).  I looked at an all-inclusive resort, it was WAY more than I'm spending on my next trip, by a factor of 4.  Sure, you could pick a city such as New York, LA, SF, London, etc, and visit for a week but how much is a hotel going to run, $200/night (or more) plus food and then whatever activities you want to do and the airfare to get there.

 

As for the increase in the DSC - when you consider the overall amount of money spent on a cruise I agree that $0.50 per day isn't outrageous, but there needs to be a line drawn at some point.  How much is too much though?

[ColeThornton]

51 minutes ago, allyfrizzle said:

Oh you're absolutely right. I'm used to mega ships, I haven't tried the Sky or Sun... any advice?

 

You may want to start a new thread.  This one is about gratuity increases.

 

Cheers.

[Georgie562]

10 minutes ago, allyfrizzle said:

Whoa.... go on. Tell me more!

 

Basically I got a 5% discount for being Gold with MSC (thanks to their loyalty matching status) and earlier this month they were running a promotion to promote their newest ship MSC Bellisima in which you took a virtual tour and it gave you a promo code to use when booking to save you 10%.

That promotion is over but If you go to the MSC forum and look for that thread someone got a whole bunch of promo codes and she is giving those codes away. Also I booked for December so prices are normally not that high at that time.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Georgie562

[hawkman402]

So my cruise starts on 3/31.  Is that considered March or April for the new rate?

[Aesop081]

1 hour ago, Georgie562 said:

I called it !!

Late last year I said they would raise them again this year!!

Up next... 25% dining and beverage service charges. Just wait for it 😉

I'm going with the subtle 22% first.  Just like what are now appearing on restaurant tip machines with the minimum auto selection of 18, then 20, then 22.

 

25% is I'm thinking a threshold of push back IMHO

 

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, shof515 said:

i guess i may stop sailing on NCL with all of these price increasing they are doing every 6-12 months.

 

There are price increases roughly every 3-4 months but since they are different types of increases, some people don't really notice.

 

For example, increasing the purchase price of the 3SDP by $10 would only add $2 for people getting it as a promo. The same with increasing the purchase price of the UBP/UOB.

 

Going from 18% to 20% has the same type of unnoticed effect on the promos. By my estimate, the 20% will go to 22% across the board sometime in October.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Two Wheels Only

[fstuff1]

1 hour ago, Trimone said:

You know after booking two flights yesterday, and pricing good hotels, I can’t see the value in cruises. 

 

true if flying unless it's a 'free' cruise from a land casino, or from CAS themselves.

 

if you live near a cruise port, then it's great!

if you live near a cruise port and have a free cruise certificate, then even better!

 

[FranknBeans]

You should be ok as your still in the US but I would call NCl and advise them.

[luv2kroooz]

3 hours ago, mdsgu said:

I don't recommend it, but you are allowed to adjust (up or down) the gratuities simply by visiting the Guest Services desk.  No explanation is necessary.

Yes, I will simply be removing forty nine cents per person, per day as long as they allow gratuities to be adjusted. An optional gratuity is directly related to service and unless or until service levels increase, an increase to daily gratuities is not justified. Nickel and diming is a two way street.

[donovanrs28]

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

 

true if flying unless it's a 'free' cruise from a land casino, or from CAS themselves.

 

if you live near a cruise port, then it's great!

if you live near a cruise port and have a free cruise certificate, then even better!

 

 

LA Based and Free Cruises Given, which I love!! $0.49/day is not going to break my trips.

[DaCruiseBug]

I think this pretty much confirms that either NCL pockets part of the DSC or they use part of the DSC to subsidize the workers regular wages. Either way, it’s more money in the NCL coffers...not their employees.

[KarlChilders]

I would be interested to know the source.  I have a cruise booked and have received nothing on this and there is nothing on NCL's site that I can find to confirm it.

[DaCruiseBug]

2 minutes ago, KarlChilders said:

I would be interested to know the source.  I have a cruise booked and have received nothing on this and there is nothing on NCL's site that I can find to confirm it.

 

It’s right on the NCL website.

 

[KarlChilders]

ahh, that was not there when I looked earlier, it was still referencing the April 2018 increase. 

[mianmike]

22 minutes ago, DaCruiseBug said:

I think this pretty much confirms that either NCL pockets part of the DSC or they use part of the DSC to subsidize the workers regular wages. Either way, it’s more money in the NCL coffers...not their employees.

 

It's been confirmed for quite some time on NCL's website.

 

This is the trend.  Unfortunately a large portion of the public is financially naive.  The travel industry has been continually exploiting opaque fees for quite some time.  Whether it's resort fees, baggage fees, destination fees, service fees and my favorite ridiculous fee: the convenience fee.  When choosing a travel provider the majority only compare the base price and fail to account for all the fees.

 

Cruise lines are the king of fee implementation.  Despite being upfront with their service fee name and description (by naming it Daily Service Charge and spelling out that it is a fee on their website) there is the perpetuated myth that the fee is not a fee but rather a "gratuity."  A "gratuity" that only goes to the poor hard working crew members.  The cheerleaders of the Daily Service Charge "gratuity" claim it would be the epitome of callousness if one were to remove or reduce the service charge.  Almost unpatriotic. The cruise lines do nothing to dispel this myth as it helps them with public relations, keeps people from reducing the service charge and helps suppress negative reaction to their daily service fee increases.       

 

 

[mdsgu]

3 minutes ago, mianmike said:

 

It's been confirmed for quite some time on NCL's website.

 

This is the trend.  Unfortunately a large portion of the public is financially naive.  The travel industry has been continually exploiting opaque fees for quite some time.  Whether it's resort fees, baggage fees, destination fees, service fees and my favorite ridiculous fee: the convenience fee.  When choosing a travel provider the majority only compare the base price and fail to account for all the fees.

 

Cruise lines are the king of fee implementation.  Despite being upfront with their service fee name and description (by naming it Daily Service Charge and spelling out that it is a fee on their website) there is the perpetuated myth that the fee is not a fee but rather a "gratuity."  A "gratuity" that only goes to the poor hard working crew members.  The cheerleaders of the Daily Service Charge "gratuity" claim it would be the epitome of callousness if one were to remove or reduce the service charge.  Almost unpatriotic. The cruise lines do nothing to dispel this myth as it helps them with public relations, keeps people from reducing the service charge and helps suppress negative reaction to their daily service fee increases.       

 

 

 

So are you saying we should all dispute the DSC?  Remove it entirely or at least in part?  Tip in cash to those we deem worthy? 

 

I'm not arguing against your point -- I think we all agree that it is nothing more than a fee that allows the cruise line to advertise low fares and then make it up on the back end by charging ever higher gratuities or service charges that, of course, are not reserved for the hard-working employees.  The big question is whether there is something that can be done that's not "unpatriotic" or do we just swallow it and pay up?

[spanishguy1970]

3 hours ago, Georgie562 said:

 

Basically I got a 5% discount for being Gold with MSC (thanks to their loyalty matching status) and earlier this month they were running a promotion to promote their newest ship MSC Bellisima in which you took a virtual tour and it gave you a promo code to use when booking to save you 10%.

That promotion is over but If you go to the MSC forum and look for that thread someone got a whole bunch of promo codes and she is giving those codes away. Also I booked for December so prices are normally not that high at that time.

well sounds great, but question? isn't MSC part of the NCL family?